1,720,961 research outputs found
3D Scanning and design platform for lower limb prosthesis
No full textBoth 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies are increasingly common nowadays and they are used in many different fields. In this research work, we pay attention on exploiting these technologies into medical fields in which the use of prosthesis is required. In particular, we propose an innovative system that is able to emulate the traditional manufacturing process for lower limb prosthesis. In this application, the most important and crucial step of prosthesis project is the design of the socket. The socket is the most customizable part and, thus, its shape is defined according to the shape of residual limb as well as other parameters relative to anthropometric patient’s data and life style. In this paper, firstly we introduce the most important features about both 3D scanning and 3D printing. Then, these technologies are described according to the socket design for lower limb prosthesis. Finally, preliminary results reached so far are presented and discussed
Additive manufacturing to advance functional design: an application in the medical field
Get PDFThe improvement and the massive diffusion of Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques have fostered the research of design methods to exploit at best the feature introduced by these solutions. The whole design paradigm needs to be changed taking into account new manufacturing capabilities. Additive manufacturing is not only an innovative method of fabrication, but it requires a new way to design products. Traditional practices of mechanical design are changing to exploit all potential of AM, new parameters and geometries could be realize avoiding technologies constrains of molding or machine tooling. The concept of “manufacturing for design” increasingly acquires greater importance and this means we have the chance to focus almost entirely on product functionality. The possibility to confer inhomogeneous properties to objects provides an important design key. We will study behavior and structure according to desired functions for each object identifying three main aspects to vary: infill type, external topology and shape, and material composition. In this research work we focus on FDM technology of 3D printing that easily allow to explore all previous conditions. We present a new way to conceive design process in order to confer variable properties to AM objects and some guidelines to control properties of deformation and elasticity using classic infills. The ultimate aim is to apply new design rules provided by AM in the prosthetic field of lower limb amputees. The socket of the prosthesis represents a deformable interface between the residual limb and the artificial leg that must be optimize according to geometry and loads distribution of patient. An application for a transfemoral patient will be discussed
Multi-material design and 3D printing method of lower limb prosthetic sockets
No full textThe paper shows a research activity aimed at integrating low cost industrial technologies in the design, test and manufacture of medical devices. This work focuses on lower limb prosthesis and in particular on the custom-t component interacting with the residual limb, i.e. the socket. The process going from the 3D reconstruction of patients' limb to the manufacture of the socket by means of a 3D printer has been designed. Moreover, this must be as automatic as possible and should not require the presence of a design and simulation expert. This implied a deep involvement of physicians and orthopaedic technicians in order to embed rules and procedures in the system. The process is divided in three steps: design, test and manufacture. For each step some details are shown and at last some conclusions are drawn mainly concerning the challenge of multi-material 3D printing of the socket
Visual representation of dynamic pressure map on the digital human model of patient with a lower limb prosthesis
No full textThe socket for lower limb prosthesis is the central element of artificial leg that needs to be optimize with the aim to increase comfort and reduce pain. Nowadays, the modeling of this part is completely manual and based on prosthetist skills. The key parameter determining if the socket is properly designed is the pressure distribution in the interface between the skin of residual limb and the internal surface of the socket. In this paper, we expose a method to measure this pressure thought resistive pressure sensors and we illustrate a case study of a transfemoral amputee patient. A visualization tool has been developed to dynamically show pressure data on the 3D model of the residual limb during topic moments of the gait by a color scale. Achieved results and future work will be discussed in the paper
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Low Cost 3D Scanners Along the Design of Lower Limb Prosthesis
No full textThe evolution of 3D scanning systems has determined a large range of commercial solutions available on the market with different costs depending on their performances. The most interesting scanners for the sake of this research rely on structured light optical sensors like Microsoft Kinect v1 sensor, which are extremely low-cost, but they still provide a precision that is valuable for some medical applications, e.g., the scanning of a residual limb.
In this research work, we present our CAD system based on a knowledge-guided approach to design the socket starting from two different 3D acquisition systems; the first one uses Microsoft Kinect and the second one exploits MRI volumes to get the final 3D shape of residual limb. Then, a comparison of introduced techniques to create 3D shape is exposed. Final outcomes are shown and discussed in the paper
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Pressure Data and Multi-material Approach to Design Prosthesis
No full textThis paper concerns the design and manufacture of medical devices, such as lower limb prosthesis, integrating low cost industrial technologies. In particular, it focuses the attention on the custom-fit component of a lower limb prosthesis, i.e., the socket, that is the interface with the residual limb. The considered process starts from the 3D reconstruction of patients’ limb and ends with the manufacture of the socket with a 3D printer using a multi-material approach. The process counts three steps: 3D modeling, testing (both experimental and numer-ical) and manufacturing. For each step adopted solutions and tools are described. Finally, conclusions are drawn mainly concerning the challenge of multi-material 3D printing of the socket
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